THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; With obesity on many minds, KFC pushes a theme that its fried chicken has a place in a healthy diet.

IF one needed further proof that the hand-wringing over eating well is reaching a frantic state, a new campaign from KFC may provide it. In a commercial that will begin appearing tomorrow, a woman brings home dinner to her husband, saying, ''Y'know how we've been talking about eating better? Well, it starts today!''

The better eats? She slams down a bucket of KFC fried chicken.

By advocating a place for fried chicken within a healthy diet, KFC is becoming the latest of many restaurant chains trying to turn wide concern over obesity from a liability into a selling point. But branding and restaurant industry analysts said that KFC might face more challenges than the rest.

''It's so counterintuitive that it seems like a long shot to me,'' said Steve Lawrence, executive vice president at Straightline International in New York, a brand consulting company. ''We've all been trained to know that fried foods are a bad idea.''

KFC may have little choice but to try. Sales at KFC restaurants have been softening; its parent company, Yum Brands, reported this month that its operations in China were making more money than KFC operations in the United States.

In the last several months, its creative agency of three years has been dismissed; a new president for United States operations has been appointed; the chief marketing officer departed and a new executive vice president for marketing and food innovation, Scott Bergren, has been hired.

Now KFC joins a long list of fast-food franchises that have fought against being painted as goats in the struggle against obesity; Burger King, Jack in the Box, Subway, McDonald's and others have adjusted their menus or advertising to emphasize healthier food.

''Turn on the TV today and there's thousands of claims about food,'' said Mr. Bergren, speaking from the company's headquarters in Louisville, Ky. ''We feel that we need to set the record straight. We haven't been speaking out on the issue of the nature of our food, how we prepare it, what it's prepared from.''

For most of the last two years, KFC has used Jason Alexander, the actor, primarily to talk about individual products like Honey BBQ Boneless Wings as well as to call hamburgers boring. Those commercials, which carried the theme, ''There's fast food, then there's KFC,'' were created by BBDO Worldwide in New York, part of the Omnicon Group. But as sales softened and Mr. Alexander's contract reached its conclusion this summer, KFC asked BBDO to participate in a creative shootout against the Chicago office of Foote, Cone & Belding for the account, which has annual billings estimated at $200 million. (The Irvine, Calif., office of Foote, Cone, part of the FCB Group division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, handles the account of Taco Bell, a division of Yum Brands that was faring considerably better.)

The new campaign is the first from Foote, Cone, which was awarded the account last month. Instead of a wisecracking Mr. Alexander or portrayals of the company's founder, Col. Harland Sanders, the spots emphasize the fresh quality of the food and its relative health merits.

''This is just an invitation,'' said Dana Anderson, president and chief executive at Foote, Cone Chicago. ''Plus it gives you some news.''

In the second of the two television commercials, one 30-something man brings the news to a friend who happens by. ''Jack?'' asks the passer-by, ''Is that you? Man, you look fantastic! What the heck you been doing?''

The answer: ''Eatin' chicken.''

A voice-over explains: ''The secret's out. One Original Recipe chicken breast has just 11 grams of carbs and packs 40 grams of protein. So if you're going low-carb, high-protein, go KFC.''

Sharp-eyed viewers will catch a glimpse of an on-screen disclaimer, however, that warns: ''Not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food.''

The husband-and-wife spot even encourages KFC customers to ''go skinless for just 3 grams of fat per piece.''

All the commercials end with the new theme, ''You gotta KFC what's cookin'!''

The idea, according to Ms. Anderson, was ''to find that place where KFC would ring true to consumers but also would have this pride again, instead of feeling like it was Aunt Fanny's old handbag.'' The theme refers to the old days of the franchise, when customers could see into the kitchen and tell that fresh birds were being cooked on the spot. ''The chicken is fresh, not frozen,'' Ms. Anderson said. ''People either had forgotten that or were really surprised.''

Restoring pride to the franchise is also expected to include new menu additions, now being tested in Orlando, Fla., like an oven-roasted entree served on a bed of long-grain rice.

The big restaurant chains seem to have finally decided that consumers are ready to eat better, or at least somewhat better, said John Glass, a restaurant analyst at the Boston office of CIBC World Markets. ''There does seem to be a consensus in the industry now, that people once said one thing and did another, but now they're saying something and actually acting upon it,'' he said. ''Look at the success of salads at McDonald's and Wendy's.''

But KFC has distinct problems to overcome, including the ease with which chains like McDonald's can imitate popular chicken products like strips and nuggets, Mr. Glass said. The new KFC campaign sounds like an effort to defend its core offering of chicken on the bone, he added.

At the same time, said Mr. Lawrence, the consultant, new offerings like roasted chicken dishes may be better suited to reinvigorate the brand and answer consumers' health needs. ''A new product like that is a much better idea than telling people that fried chicken is good for you.''